'Kill Russians' urges Syrian Qaeda as Putin slams US

Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate called for jihadists to attack Russia over its air strikes in Syria, as rockets hit Moscow's Damascus embassy Tuesday where demonstrators had gathered to back the intervention.

 Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed Washington for refusing to cooperate on Syria, saying "some of our partners simply have mush for brains".

 "How is it possible to work together?" he asked in Moscow, adding that the United States declined to share intelligence on Syria.

 Washington and its allies say Moscow is also targeting Western-backed moderate rebels and seeking to prop up President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

 Abu Mohamed al-Jolani, head of Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, urged jihadists in the Caucasus to target Russians because of Moscow's air campaign.

 "If the Russian army kills the people of Syria, then kill their people. And if they kill our soldiers, then kill their soldiers. An eye for an eye," Jolani said in an audio recording released late Monday.

 He pledged that Moscow's air war, which began on September 30, would have dire consequences.

 "The war in Syria will make the Russians forget the horrors that they found in Afghanistan," Jolani said, adding: "They will be shattered, with God's permission, on Syria's doorstep."

 Russia has said its raids are targeting Al-Nusra's jihadist rival the Islamic State group and other movements, and the defence ministry said it had hit 86 "terrorist" targets in Syria since Monday.